Niek Kimmann (born 20 May 1996 in

Lutten Lutten (Dutch Low Saxon: ''Luttn'') is a village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is located in the municipality Hardenberg, about south-west of Coevorden. History The village was first mentioned in 1532 as Lotten, and means "low lying ...

) is a Dutch

BMX racing BMX racing is a type of off-road bicycle racing. The format of BMX was derived from motocross racing. BMX bicycle racing, races are sprint races on purpose-built off-road single-lap race tracks. The track usually consists of a starting gate for u ...

cyclist. Kimmann is the reigning Olympic Champion BMX Racing, a three-time

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, one-time European Champion, three-time Dutch Champion, and two-time World Cup Supercross winner. He is also a two-time junior

Career

Kimmann, born in

., started BMXing at age seven, after attending a classmate's BMX training. At age 15, he joined the Dutch National Team at the Olympic Training Center in

Papendal Olympic Training Centre Papendal is the national training centre of the Netherlands, located in the Veluwe woods from Arnhem. Papendal is the home base of NOC*NSF and football club SBV Vitesse. The soccer fields are also being used as training gr ...

. During the 2014 UCI BMX World Championships, Kimmann won the Junior World Title in both racing and time trial. In August 2014, together with Wiebe Scholten, he won a bronze medal in the team boys event at the

2014 Summer Youth Olympics The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Summer Youth Olympic Games, an international sports ...

. He started racing in Elite in 2015. At Papendal, he won his first World Cup race and at the

UCI BMX World Championships UCI BMX World Championships are the world championships for BMX racing (bicycle motocross) held under the regulations of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the sport's international governing body. The UCI BMX World Championships are held an ...

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

, Belgium, Kimmann became World Champion at age 19. One day earlier, he won a silver medal in time trial. Kimmann became the second Dutch BMX World Champion, after Robert de Wilde, who won in 1999. As a reward for this season, Kimmann was one of the three nominees for

Dutch Sportsman of the year The Dutch Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year are chosen annually by Dutch athletes from a shortlist compiled by sports journalists. The elections are organized by the Dutch Olympic Committee. All the winners receive a Jaap Eden Award to rememb ...

, which was eventually won by

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as a ...

Sjinkie Knegt Sjinkie Knegt (; born 5 July 1989) is a Dutch short track speed skater. Career He competed for the Netherlands at the 2010 Winter Olympics in the men's 500 m, 1000 m, and 1500m. At the January 2014 European Short Track Speed Skating Championshi ...

. In 2016, Kimmann finished 2nd, behind

Joris Daudet Joris Daudet (born 12 February 1991) is a French racing cyclist, and World Champion who represents France in BMX. Born in Saintes, he won all twelve events on the European BMX tour in 2011. That year, he also won the World Championship. He ...

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

. A day earlier, he won the time trail, which meant he is the last World Champion in this discipline. At the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

he finished seventh. He fell in the quarter finals, injuring his ankle ligament and a

metatarsal bone The metatarsal bones, or metatarsus, are a group of five long bones in the foot, located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes. Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the ...

. He had to recover from his injuries between August 2016 and February 2017. The serious crash of his friend and fellow BMX-cyclist

Jelle van Gorkom Jelle van Gorkom (born 5 January 1991 in Doetinchem) is a Dutch racing cyclist and Olympic silver medalist who represents the Netherlands in BMX. He was selected to represent the Netherlands at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the men's ...

in January 2018 while the two were training made deep impact on him. In 2018 Kimmann won the Supercross World Cup, with four wins - and had to withdraw from the 2018 UCI BMX World Championships due to cramps. A year later he won the 2019 European BMX Championships. and successfully defended the World Cup with the highest point total (1180pts) in history, after winning six out of ten races. In early 2021 Kimmann left the Dutch National Team in

for The UCI World Cycling Centre in

Aigle , neighboring_municipalities= Vaud: Yvorne, Leysin, Ormont-Dessous, Ollon; Valais: Vouvry, Collombey-Muraz , twintowns = L'Aigle (France), Tübingen (Germany), Bassersdorf (Switzerland) } Aigle (French language, French for "eagle", ; frp, ...

. He is now coached by former World Champion

Liam Phillips Liam Peter Phillips (born 11 March 1989) is a BMX racing cyclist representing Great Britain. In 2013 he won the UCI BMX World Championships, his first. Having been cycling from the age of 5, he took up competitive BMX whilst a junior and won t ...

. A few days before the

2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, Kimmann crashed into a track official during a training lap around the BMX track, which resulted in a small fracture in his

kneecap The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...

. On 30 July he won the Men's BMX gold medal starting from lane 8, ahead of Kye Whyte and

Carlos Ramírez (BMX rider) Carlos Alberto Ramírez Yepes (born 12 March 1994) is a BMX, BMX rider, bronze medalist in BMX at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and also a bronze medal in Tokyo 2020. Biography Carlos started cycling at a very young age at the initiative of his ...

. After the Olympics he has confirmed that he'll continue BMX racing, but he doesn't rule out the possibility of joining the Dutch

Track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

team in the future.

Personal

His younger brother, Justin Kimmann, is also a BMX rider and finished 8th in the Junior World Championships 2016.

Trivia

* The Kimmann family has an indoor BMX track in a warehouse at their farm, which they use for training and shooting Youtube video's. * During the Covid19 quarantine period, Kimmann set the 'Garden World

Hour Record The hour record is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present. It is considered one of the most prestigious re ...

' in his backyard with a distance of 20.1 km, beating GCN's 16.3 km. * In the run-up to the 2020 Olympics, Kimmann and his partner

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

developed FastFrame. A regular Meybo BMX-bicyle with built-in sensors. These sensors give real-time information to his coaches. * After his gold Olympic medal, Kimmann received a royal insignia, which made him Knight Order of Orange-Nassau

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimmann, Niek 1996 births Living people BMX riders Dutch male cyclists Olympic cyclists of the Netherlands Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics UCI BMX World Champions (elite men) People from Hardenberg Cyclists from Overijssel 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch people